The scene of Katie Boulter’s best career win became one of her quickest losses of the year 18 hours later, with Donna Vekić claiming a 6-1, 6-3 victory in an hour and six minutes.
Vekić is through to the Queen’s Club final after only being in the main draw as a lucky loser, having lost in the final round of qualifying to Anna Blinkova.
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Since the world No 76 was handed that second chance she has lost only one set en route to Sunday’s final, to Karolína Plíšková in the quarter-final.
Donna Vekic lost in the final round of qualifying at Queen’s but the lucky loser only dropped one set in the main draw en route to the final – Adam Davy/PA
“I felt underprepared coming into the tournament,” Boulter said after the defeat. “I didn’t feel like I’d got enough reps in on the court. I think I’ve done a tremendous job, considering, to play two matches yesterday, and also just get up and go again today. Obviously, really quick turnaround for me. Physically, it clearly wasn’t enough.”
Boulter had claimed the biggest win of her career in the quarter-finals, knocking out Elena Rybakina, the world No 2, in three sets.
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The rarity of that feat was such that you have to go back nine years to the last time a British woman beat an opponent of such standing, when Johanna Konta eliminated Simona Halep at Wimbledon.
On Saturday, Boulter looked a shadow of the same player and was up against it after losing the first set 6-1 to Vekić in just 34 minutes.
Whereas Boulter had been able to contest everything Rybakina had to offer, she was sent racing across the court by Vekić, who started strongly – the Briton making 12 unforced errors in the opening set as a result.
“I’m currently ranked 70 in the world. I am not supposed to make the semi-finals of this tournament,” she said. “If you look at the lineup, we had an incredible lineup.”
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On her compatriot Emma Raducanu, she added: “I think, you know, someone like Emma, she’s an incredible player. We all know that. You know, I personally expect her to be at the back end of these tournaments. I have high regard for her. I think she should be there, and I think she’s a great grass-court player.”
As Boulter tried to get back into the match in the second set, she saved two break points in her second service game, but was unable to save a third.
After that, Vekić held serve with ease to hold on to her advantage, then carving out another opportunity with two match points on Boulter’s serve, taking the second one.
“Going into a match like today after yesterday, I know it’s a really unique situation where you’re playing two matches in one day, and I have been sick the week before,” Boulter said.
Boulter says she wants to improve on backing up wins following her run to the semi-finals at Queen’s – Andrew Couldridge/Reuters
“It’s not something that’s going to repeatedly happen, but for me, I really want to improve in that area. I want to improve in backing up my wins. I need to start doing that.
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“Obviously yesterday was a great win for me, a top-10 player, top-five player, but I need to be able to do that repeatedly to be able to do that at the big tournaments.”